- Frances Townsend
Frances M. Fragos Townsend (born
December 28 ,1961 , Mineola,New York ), the former Homeland Security Advisor toUnited States PresidentGeorge W. Bush . Townsend was appointed to this position by President Bush onMay 28 2004 . Her resignation was announcedNovember 19 2007 . She chaired theHomeland Security Council and reported to the President onhomeland security policy andcounterterrorism policy. She previously served as Deputy Assistant to the President andDeputy National Security Advisor for Combating Terrorism.Personal
Frances M. Fragos was born the daughter of a
Greek American father who was a roofer and anIrish American mother who was an office manager for a construction company. Raised inWantagh ,Long Island , Townsend was the first in her family to finish high school. Her parents were determined that their only child should receive a college education, but could not afford to send her to school. Townsend saved money by accelerating her course load, waiting tables and working as a dormitory adviser. She graduated "cum laude " from theAmerican University in1982 where she received a B.A. inPolitical Science and a B.S. inPsychology . In1984 , she received herJuris Doctor from theUniversity of San Diego School of Law, and in1986 , attended the Institute on International and Comparative Law inLondon, England . In1994 , she married lawyer John Townsend; the couple have two sons, ages 12 and 6 years old.Career
Townsend began her prosecutorial career in
1985 , serving as an AssistantDistrict Attorney inBrooklyn, New York . In1988 , she joined theUnited States Attorney 's Office for the Southern District ofNew York where she focused on internationalorganized crime andwhite-collar crime cases.In
1991 , she worked in the Office of the Attorney General to assist in establishing the newly created Office of International Programs, the predecessor to the Executive Office for National Security. In December1993 , she joined the Criminal Division where she served as Chief of Staff to the Assistant Attorney General and played a critical part in establishing the Division's international training and rule of law programs.She came to the
White House from theUnited States Coast Guard , where she had served as Assistant Commandant for Intelligence. Prior to that, Townsend spent thirteen years at theUnited States Department of Justice in a variety of senior positions, her last assignment as Counsel to the Attorney General for Intelligence Policy. [ [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/26/AR2005082601511_pf.html An Outsider's Quick Rise To Bush Terror Adviser] August 27, 2005] [ [http://www.usip.org/events/2005/0919_terrorism.html Thinking About Terrorism: Taking Stock Four Years After September 11th] September 2005] In May 2007, she was appointed 'National Continuity Coordinator' under the auspices of NATIONAL SECURITY PRESIDENTIAL DIRECTIVE/NSPD 51 [http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/05/20070509-12.html] and assigned responsibility for coordinating the development and implementation of Federal continuity policies. In late 2007, her name was floated as a possible replacement for Attorney GeneralAlberto Gonzales . [ [http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0307/3202.html White House Seeks Gonzales Replacements] March 20, 2007]Townsend resigned her post on
November 19 ,2007 . In her resignation letter, Townsend paid tribute to President Bush by saying: "In 1937, the playwrightMaxwell Anderson wrote of PresidentGeorge Washington : 'There are some men who lift the age they inhabit, til all men walk on higher ground in their lifetime.' Mr. President, you are such a man." [http://alt.coxnewsweb.com/cnishared/washington/blogs/window/townsendresignation.PDF Frances Townsend - Resignation Letter] ]Notes
Links
* [http://www.whitehouse.gov/government/townsend-bio.html White House bio]
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